The use of medical supplies and sterile medical devices in the provision of health care services is one of the most significant expenses incurred by most health care facilities. Depending upon the nature and complexity of the medical procedure being performed, a large number of supply items may be used during a medical procedure and, given the priorities of medical personnel involved in the procedure, the ability to track the supplies, gather data about supply utilization and consumption, and record that data in a useable format can be especially difficult. While hospitals and other health care facilities may have sophisticated information systems related to supply inventory management and procedure-based supply requirements, such systems are not able to provide consistent data analysis of supply utilization and optimization if the usage data is not recorded diligently.
In a typical hospital, there are multiple different information systems that are utilized for managing supply inventory and for insuring that the proper supplies are provided for each medical procedure, such as a particular surgery. In the first instance, the hospital supply department will typically have an inventory management system that tracks medical supply inventory, identifies the location of that inventory and records inventory levels as supplies are withdrawn for usage or replaced with new shipments of supplies or re-stocks from previously withdrawn but unused supplies. This inventory management system typically tracks the location of supplies in multiple locations throughout the hospital. In some hospitals, this inventory process is still a manual process.
Another common type of information system in a typical hospital that interfaces with the inventory management system is the Operating Room Information System (ORIS). The typical ORIS will provide functionality such as scheduling the operating rooms for procedures, identifying the type of procedure to be performed, identifying the doctor performing the procedure, identifying the assisting nurse(s), and maintaining lists of supplies, devices and instruments (Bills of Materials, or BOM's) that should be provided for each procedure. Typically, these BOM's are specific to (1) the type of procedure being performed and (2) the physician performing the procedure. These BOM's are often maintained in a form known as Doctor Preference Cards.
It is common for the hospital inventory management system to interface with the ORIS in order to insure that the right supplies, devices and instruments are in stock and available for the upcoming scheduled medical procedures. Prior to each case, the BOM for a given procedure and physician is used to pull the appropriate supplies, devices and instruments for that case.
During the case, supply, device and instrument utilization for the procedure should be logged and unused items returned to inventory. When properly logged, useful data about supply utilization is captured and communicated to both the ORIS system and the inventory management system. That data can subsequently be used to capture cost information for the procedure, update the inventory system, prompt necessary re-orders and, as the data for multiple procedures and physicians is accumulated, to analyze supply cost and utilization information for optimization of BOM's to reduce supply waste and identify supply cost savings opportunities.
If accurate information about the consumption of supplies, devices and instruments is not captured, then the ability to identify savings opportunities or to accurately bill for all consumed supply items is lost. It is difficult to insure that this logging step is performed accurately and consistently, since the medical personnel are primarily concerned with insuring the success of the medical procedure. Often, the medical personnel do not have time during the procedure to manually log information into a computer for used items that do not include barcodes, or to scan the barcodes of used items that have barcodes. As a result, much of the information winds up being lost during the turnover of the medical procedure room from one case to another. Another problem with inaccurately recording usage information is the possibility of erroneously charging for items that were not used, which can raise regulatory issues.
The use of RFID tags as part of the inventory control system has potential to facilitate the logging of the supply consumption more accurately and efficiently.